Uprising: Join or Die (Windows)

Carrier Command

Several years ago, when the Amiga was just starting out and the ZX Spectrum was still a rubber keyed doorstop, there was a game called Carrier Command, a kind of 3D strategy game. In it you took control of a huge aircraft carrier, and patrolled an archipelago of islands, producing aircraft and amphibious vehicles to claim and colonise the islands. Which would have been fairly simple, if it wasn't for the enemy carrier that, starting on the opposite end of the archipelago, was trying to do exactly the same thing. You never knew where the enemy carrier was - you could see it out of the corner of your screen, you could miss it completely, or you could suddenly find yourself under attack from enemy craft or from the carrier itself. It was a bold mixture of strategy and arcade action - it was original, addictive, and it was flipping brilliant. And surprisingly it's never been emulated or bettered. Until now.

Uprisen

Because Uprising from The 3DO Company and Cyclone Studios bears certain similarities to Carrier Command - only it's much better. You play a member of the Rebel Federation, an organisation formed to fight against the oppressive regime of the Imperium and unsurprisingly, you're the Rebellion's only chance of victory. Piloting a super-tank known as the Wraith, you have to take over a number of planets in order to ensure victory and subsidised booze for the Rebellion. But it's not just a case of zooming around each planet in your tank, blasting things - if you take that approach, you won't last long, because Uprising isn't a straight shoot-em-up, it's more like Command and Conquer in 3D. You'll need to build bases to provide you with enough vehicles and troops to kick the Imperium off-planet. There are three different modes you can play the game in - Quickstart, Multiplayer and Campaign mode. Quickstart mode lets you play a single battle against the computer - Multiplayer mode, as the name suggests, lets you take on other players. To Cyclone's credit, you only need one CD for a multiplayer game, as opposed to the money-grubbing 'one CD per player' approach Westwood took with Red Alert: Aftermath.

Command and Kicking.

Campaign mode is where the meat-substitute of the game lies, as you take on the Imperium over more missions than I can be bothered to count. There are usually about six planets you can choose from at any one time - once you've taken over - sorry, 'liberated' those planets , you can move on to harder missions on other planets. Once you've decided on a planet, you're given a mission briefing. Sometimes you're given a seek and destroy mission, where you have one or two ground troops at your disposal, and you've got to take out enemy outposts or teleporters, but more often than not, it's a straight build-your-bases-and-blow-up-the-enemy job. At the start of each level, you just have your Wraith tank, which is the key to everything in the game - base building, calling in troops and pretty much everything else.

Base building in Uprising is a little different to base building in other real-time strategy games - you can't just build a base anywhere that takes your fancy. Instead, you can only build a base on special pre-placed base platforms called Citadels. There are a limited number of Citadel platforms on each level - some may be free for you to build on, others may have been claimed by enemy forces in which case you'll have to blow up their bases before you can occupy them. Occupying a base is just a case of driving into the occupation square at the centre of a platform and pressing F9 to claim the base. Then, a drop ship will fly in and drop in your first base building, the Citadel Tower. It's vulnerable for a minute or two until it charges up, after which it will automatically fire at any enemies who come in range. And if you feel like it, you can take control of the tower turret directly, and shoot at the bad guys yourself. You can also place up to three turrets around your base, either laser turrets or Surface to Air Missile emplacements, again to defend against enemy attack. If it sounds complicated, don't worry.. it's very easy to pick up.

H.K.

Each Citadel base will also have a number of free base spaces, the actual number varying from platform to platform, which you can fill with other useful buildings including troop factories, tank factories, bomber factories, power plants and more. The power plants are used to extract geothermal power from beneath the citadel - each citadel has a limited well of stored power which can be tapped, and which is used up whenever you build a unit. Perhaps 'build' isn't the right word, since Uprising uses a different troop control system to other strategy games. You can't direct your troops around the battlefield - instead, you go to a certain point in your Wraith and teleport them where you want them to be. They'll then go after the nearest target and if they manage to destroy it they'll stay there, guarding the spot. If you've finished with them, you can teleport them back to your base and reclaim the power you spent building them. But you can't just teleport troops and vehicles all over the map - you can only teleport them to a place within your field of view - which can be blocked by hills and other obstacles, as in Total Annihilation. That means that units can only be teleported within range of your Wraith or the Citadel turrets of your bases. Hence you're forced to always be in the front line, and you risk your tank being destroyed. You do have the ability to repair your tank back at your base, you can defend yourself with your tank's weapons and you do have several lives. But nonetheless, this system does make things tense at times, something that not too many games manage to capture.

S.D.I.

There are several different units that you have access to - you can call a bomber up to attack a target, send in ground troops, summon fighter planes or send tanks out to fight. You can even, if you have the technology, summon up a satellite laser strike to take out enemy buildings. Each unit requires power to manufacture, and has its own strengths and weaknesses. For example, if you send a bomber to attack your opponent's Citadel tower, and he's got a S.A.M. launcher, your bomber will be lucky to make it. Similarly, tanks will take a hammering from fast flying AAV planes, so you'll have to make sure you have a balanced force on stand-by. The more Citadel bases you've managed to claim, the faster you can produce units. Completing a mission will net you credits, which can be then spent between missions on upgrading your units, buildings, Wraith or weaponry. Each unit has five or so tech levels, each of which cost cash to upgrade to, but it's worth the investment to produce faster, harder and stronger units. It's up to you exactly how you spend your money. And the enemy is no slouch - as you progress through the game, you'll find the Imperium is upgrading its units and weapons too. I don't know exactly how complex or clever the Imperium AI is, but it seems pretty competent - when I started using my laser satellites to take out enemy bases, the Imperium forces started attacking my bases and going for the Satellite control facility - and in many cases succeeding. So much for Star Wars technology..

S.O.S.

As far as Uprising's graphics go, they're very impressive indeed - if you've got a 3DFX card. They're superbly detailed and extremely well animated, and even if you're running in non-3DFX VGA or SVGA mode, they're still pretty good. Coupled with Uprising's brilliant sound effects and music, the make for a truly immersive gaming experience. I defy you not to be impressed when an enemy fighter plane is taken out by one of your S.A.M. launchers and zooms past screeching before slamming into the ground in front of you with a huge explosion and an earth-shaking bang. And on the playability front, Uprising doesn't disappoint. From the word go, you'll be glued to the screen by Uprising's deeply involving gameplay. Imagine the best bits from every real-time strategy game, coupled with a funky 3D engine, and you're halfway there. Whether you're playing on your own or with similarly warlike friends, you'll be blown away by Uprising - there are enough levels to keep you going for quite a while and even after you've finished them, you'll keep coming back for more. A stunner of a game - you can't afford to miss it. That means I liked it, in case you're wondering..

Review By GamesDomain